Moments That Matter

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) — a life-saving tool if someone’s heart or breathing stops — is part of the Basic Life Support skills many Hartford HealthCare colleagues need to know as part of their job. However, research shows these vital skills can begin to deteriorate just three to six months after training if not used often. So, how do you stop that from happening? 

Hartford HealthCare partnered with Resuscitation Quality Improvement (RQI), part of the American Heart Association on a program that allows colleagues to strengthen their skills and retain life-saving techniques by going through training more frequently. Re-certification is now done every three months instead of every two years. 

“This will enhance our skills and give us that confidence to show up at the bedside in the event of an emergency,” said Nancy Clements, RN, in the PACU at MidState Medical Center. “My advice to everyone is don’t be overwhelmed with change, change is good. Keep in mind that as you go through this it’s teaching you and training you to become more competent and confident in an emergency situation.” 

Clements began using RQI when it launched at MidState Medical Center last winter and it didn’t take long for her to notice benefits for both colleagues and patients. “I think my colleagues will find that once they get going with this, the recertification process will be much more simplistic,” she said. 

Assistant teacher Dawn Judson arrives early to her classroom at the Webb School in the Valley to prepare for the day ahead. She places morning worksheets on desks spread several feet apart. She turns on her Chromebook and logs into Zoom, ready to greet a remote learning student. 

Five students trickle in, asking questions about the day ahead and counting down the minutes until favorite elective activities. After morning breakfast and bathroom breaks, Judson turns off the lights and begins 10 minutes of guided meditation. 

She is a second-year teacher at the school, part of the Institute of Living’s special education programs offering therapeutic and educational experiences to students who may require individualized approaches to help them succeed in public school. Webb School in the Valley has 23 elementary/middle school students in classes of four to eight, and an Attendance/Credit Recovery program for high school students. 

“I was hired last year as an assistant teacher, and then the classroom teacher went on maternity leave,” Judson said. “I was only the classroom teacher for three weeks before COVID. Everything I had learned, I had to figure out how to do on Zoom. It was a completely new way of teaching.” 

Instead of lesson planning for the week ahead, she was planning for the month ahead. She was visiting students’ homes to drop off binders of worksheets, and helped colleagues develop binders for their classes. It comes as no surprise that such dedication during her f irst year of teaching was recognized with the Connecticut Association of Private Special Education Facilities Golden Apple Award and induction into the Happiness League, sponsored by LG Electronics. 

Dr. John Satterfield always had an appreciation for hospital colleagues working behind the scenes, especially since his wife, Anna, began as a volunteer at New Britain General Hospital (NBGH) at 14 years old and then moved into food services. 

“I feel like the people who often make the hospital run as efficiently as it does, like food and environmental services, don’t always get the appreciation and recognition they deserve,” he said. 

After meeting in 1985 when Dr. Satterfield was a resident doing rotation on the NBGH ICU where Anna had become a nurse, the couple married. They’re both now at Southington Surgery Center, he as director of anesthesia with North American Partners in Anesthesia and she overseeing preoperative screening. 

In May 2020, Dr. Satterfield had an acute illness requiring hospitalization at The Hospital of Central Connecticut (HOCC), where he met Walter Taylor, a housekeeper in Environmental Services. 

“Walter is a very pleasant person. He was most enjoyable to talk to. I sincerely appreciated his kindness and the attention with which he addressed his work.” Dr. Satterfield said. 

Taylor recalled talking speaking about plans to further his career or education as a pharmacy technician. 

“I told Dr. Satterfield I was looking to move up in the hospital and that I had been homeless for about nine months, traveling between East Hartford and New Britain. I was having to take two buses to get to work,” Taylor said, adding that the job would help him support his young daughter and stepson. 

The Satterfields were so touched that they started a Non-Clinical Employee Continuing Education Support Fund at HOCC to help other non-clinical HOCC staff, similar to Taylor, who wanted to advance their personal and professional growth but needed help making it happen.

“We want to support people and provide them with a greater degree of access to educational opportunities,” explained Dr. Satterfield, who enlisted the help of Dr. Jeff Finkelstein, vice president of medical affairs in the region, and Tina Fabiani, manager of philanthropy.

Even as snow fell, an enthusiastic team from the Hartford Hospital Emergency Department gathered on Earth Day to do their part and plant two young trees. 

The group, led by Sarah Wheeler, RN, planted a Japanese maple and flowering dogwood tree — donated by Prides Corner Farm in Cromwell — around the hospital’s flagpole.

After planting the trees, about a dozen colleagues drove to Pope Park, where they fanned out and bagged several loads of litter. The activities were part of a larger initiative of environmentally friendly practices organized by Wheeler, who started a sustainability study in the ED to adopt greener habits and reduce waste.

Having a loved one receiving emergency medical care can be stressful and frightening, a situation exacerbated by pandemic-related visitor restrictions. 

To help, the Hartford Hospital Emergency Department (ED) team implemented an Ambassadors Program in which a designated staff member serves as contact for patients’ loved ones, providing updates from the care team when necessary. 

The ambassadors, all fluent in Spanish, work directly with families and visitors of patients being seen in the ED. Located at the registration desk, they greet them with a business card listing a direct line where they can receive information at all hours of the day. The program, which started as a pilot, includes two full-time and two part-time ambassadors on first and second shifts, seven days a week. 

ED Assistant Manager Macllerly Rios, RN, said communication with the patient’s care team is always a top concern cited in patient surveys. Having fluent Spanish speakers, she said, is also critical to the program’s success.